Quinta da Boa Vista translates into "estate with the good view". It is a big urban park, located in São Cristóvão neighborhood in Zona Norte. At the center of the park lies a palace - Palácio de São Cristóvão. In the 19th century the palace was used as emperors residence and the park area was part of the royal gardens.

Nowadays the palace houses National Museum of Brazil. The museum itself was established in 1818 by the king of Portugal Dom João VI, and moved into the palace in the end of eighteen hundreds. Throughout the history various emperors as well as many foreign scientists contributed into the museum's collection. The collection includes astronomy, palaeontology, natural history, ethnology, archeology.

Important update

Unfortunately on 3rd of September 2018 the Museu Nacional was burnt down in a huge fire. All of the building of the museum along with over 10,000 artifacts were destroyed by the fire. It was a huge blow to Brazil as well as the world wide historical artefact collection.

Quinta da Boa Vista safety

It is not a safe neighborhood. The park has guards and police presence, but the surronding area can be dangerous for a tourist. Leave your valuables at home. You can take the metro, as it is close to the park.